1word1day | February 1st-Hugger-mugger

Happy February!

hugger-mugger \HUH-guhr-muh-guhr\, noun:
1. A disorderly jumble; muddle; confusion.
2. Secrecy; concealment.

adjective:
1. Confused; muddled; disorderly.
2. Secret.

adverb:
1. In a muddle or confusion.
2. Secretly.

transitive verb:
1. To keep secret.

intransitive verb:
1. To act in a secretive manner.

Example:
While Ventura is speaking out -- his wisdom seems to be a hugger-mugger of twisted cliches from his reading of airport trash picked up as he traveled from bout to bout -- others who do possess minds too often are failing to speak theirs, and usually they do so only as a consequence of perceived electoral pragmatism.
-- Jamie Dettmer, "Campaigning and the Media Circus", Insight on the News, November 1, 1999

Origin:
The origin of hugger-mugger is unknown; it is perhaps from Anglo-Irish cuggermugger, "a whispering, a low-voiced gossiping," from Irish cogair!, "whisper!"